Ok, well… that went a lot better than I thought. Not only does Freddie seem to be on a path to understanding what a paladin actually does, but Rhonda helped Thing to get a breakthrough with the lifedrinking problem! I’m a little nervous about her getting hints about the deeper ways things work, but I don’t think she’ll be making any disasters with it.

But now she and Freddie have finished their second challenge, it’s time for the third and final one. It’s going to be a bit of a practical exam, if you will. I give Teemo the TL;DR and he heads off to go tell the kids.

The kids, Larx, and Thing are all relaxing a bit now, everyone taking a bit of a break. Freddie and Rhonda both have a lot to think about now, and the ratkin and hand can take a moment to bask in a job well done. Everyone sits up a bit as Teemo exits a shortcut, and as he seems to have everyone’s attention, he goes ahead and speaks up.

“You’ve completed Thedeim’s second challenge. All that remains is the third, which you’ll find in Rocky’s Arena. He and Aranya will give you your last task. Thedeim says you’ll need to apply what you’ve learned to succeed. He also says making a few more potions might not be the worst idea, heh. So speaks the Voice of Thedeim.”

“What’s the last challenge?” asks Rhonda, the little goblin hoping to get some information so she can decide what potions to make.

I let Teemo give them a hint, and he takes a few moments to phrase it how he wants. “It’s not quite a combat challenge… but it’s also not not a combat challenge.”

Freddie smiles as he speaks. “Did you take the whole ‘not mysterious’ thing personally?” he asks, earning a laugh from Rhonda and Teemo.

“Nah, not really. You two are just lucky in getting to see me trying it out some. I like to be direct, but sometimes it’s not the best option,” says my Voice with a shrug. Larx looks intrigued, but doesn’t press right now. I bet he’ll be chewing Teemo’s ear about it later, though.

“Oh, and Thing? Great job with the lifedrinking! The Boss had practically given up on there being a good solution, but you got one!” Thing frantically starts signing, and Teemo laughs it off. “He knows it’s still rough, but you can actually work on refining it now. Well, not right now. He’d still like you to work on the pickups first.” Thing gives a thumbs-up as the kids stand and gather their spiders.

“Is Rocky’s arena fully finished?” asks Freddie with interest, and Teemo shakes his head.

“It’s all dug out, and some stuff is done, but the Boss wants a fancy ring for it to be completely done. It’ll still have plenty of room for your challenge, though, so don’t worry about that.”

Larx makes his exit as Rhonda gets to work on a few potions. They still have a few leftover from chasing Vernew, and Rhonda adds to their stockpile with what she explains are strength and durability potions. Thing lets her use some of his reagents for them, probably as thanks for her help with the lifedrinking. Before too long, she has several potions to add to what they already have.

With that, the kids make their exit and head through the catacombs to find the arena. At the moment, it looks a lot like an underground gladiatorial arena… which it kinda is, really. It’s a place for fights to happen and for people to be able to watch. Maybe I can do some exhibition matches in here even without the ring? I know Rocky would be up for it. I should ask my other scions to see if anyone would be interested.

On the way there, I can see the kids doing things a little differently, too. Rhonda’s spellwork seems a little less stable, which I think means she’s trying to do things differently, or maybe trying to get a better feel for her magic. Freddie is also being a bit more attentive in his actions, too. He’s not just getting in the way and holding various undead at bay, but also trying to knock them off balance and being a bit more offensive with his shield.

It takes them a little longer than I might have expected, but they are experimenting a bit with applying some of what they’ve learned today, so it’s not too surprising. When they finally get there, Aranya is relaxing on one of the benches while Rocky shadowboxes. My kobold isn’t the only one on a bench, though. Looks like most of the ratkin and spiderkin enclaves are here to see the show. She raises her voice as the kids enter, so everyone can hear her.

“Ah, you’ve made it. Welcome to Lord Thedeim’s final challenge. In concept, it’s pretty simple. But like with a lot of what He does, it won’t be so simple to do. It’s a bit of a game of tag. Tag me, and you win.”

The kids look a little nervous as they wait for the other shoe to drop, or about the people watching, and my High Preistess smiles at that. “The catch is that Rocky will be trying to stop you. And, of course, I’m not going to just sit around the whole time, either. Poe’s Uplifting Wings!” she speaks and hops from the stands, and translucent wings sprout from her back, letting her land gracefully on the floor of the arena, before they fade away.

Rocky takes up his position in front of her, slamming his gloved hands together and causing a swirl of fire and ice to envelop them, before fire settles on one hand, and ice the other.

“Are you prepared for this challenge?” asks Aranya solemnly, and the kids exchange a long look, before nodding.

“We’re ready, Aranya,” says Freddie, and the two drink their potions. Looks like they’re going all out with them, too, going with the strength and durability ones as well as the perception and agility. To be fair, though, they’ll need everything they can get. I’ve told both Rocky and Aranya that this needs to be a serious test of their ability and resolve, so punches probably won’t be as pulled as they might usually be.

As the final potion is quaffed, Aranya speaks. “Then let the challenge begin!”

“Grah!” shouts Rocky as he performs an uppercut and a hard cross, the movements sending two blades of energy at the kids! With the distance between them, though, they have plenty of time to react. Freddie steps forward and kneels as he brings his shield forward, letting the horizontal ice blade pass overhead and catching the fire on the symbol of his faith. As soon as it’s dealt with, the kids run forward. They try to circle around, but Rocky easily can keep his position between them and their ultimate target.

Rocky sends a few more attacks as they close, but the kids handle them in much the same way. Rhonda pulls a stone from her pocket as they get near, and passes it to Lucas to hold onto. Fiona hops free from Freddie as well as the group prepares to square off against my zombie scion.

Rocky grunts at them and motions for them to come closer, practically daring them to try him, but they’re in no hurry to get into true melee range with him just yet. “Icicle spear!” shouts Rhonda, sending a long and sharp shaft of ice at the undead.

Instead of juking it, he meets it with a punch with his fire hand. While the flames lessen and the spear vanishes into his fist, the ice around his other hand grows thicker. In a smooth one-two punch, he not only destroys the spear like it never existed in the first place, but he also launches his own icy projectile at Freddie. The orc plants his feet and yells for Rhonda to back up as the flying fist of ice quickly approaches. It hits and shatters on his shield, sending Freddie skidding back several feet, but leaves the young orc none the worse for wear.

Rhonda pulls out what I first think is another notebook, but instead of scribbling in it, it seems to be full of runes for various spells. “Where is… ah! Fiona!” She calls for the spider’s attention as she prepares a spell, and Freddie slowly moves closer and closer to Rocky. He’s still well out of melee range, but should be able to close the distance quickly, should he choose.

“Now! Shield Charge!” yells Freddie, and Rhonda holds her runebook high.

“Misdirection!”

The rock in Lucas’ grip flashes brightly, and Fiona throws a large web net at Rocky. The ground shakes as several pillars erupt around and behind my zombie scion, leaving him in quite a pickle. The pillars will hinder his movement, Freddie is barreling down on him, and a large web is coming to entangle him. Moving will either get him tangled in the web, or will let Freddie around him to chase Aranya. None of these are viable options for the zombie scion.

He grunts as he lets the thermal energy around his flaming glove go out. He needs to focus on a different affinity to deal with this. A swift hook sends a blade of kinetic energy at the web, neatly slicing it enough for it to miss him. Another hard hook with the ice-encrusted fist meets Freddie’s shield with enough force to stop even an attack like that in its tracks.

Except instead of stopping Freddie, it passes through him without effect. Rocky grunts in surprise as the illusion takes a few more moments to dissipate, and it takes him a few moments more to realize what the kids have done. Freddie rode one of the pillars to jump over Rocky, just like how he got on top of the hedge maze. The large web net was never aimed at Rocky at all, but at the pillars behind him, forming a wall that will take him time to get through. Worse: he’d have to turn his back on Rhonda to try to deal with it, too.

He focuses his attention on Rhonda and the spiders as Freddie charges my High Priestess, but she looks delighted more than worried. “Teemo’s Disjunction!” Freddie trips as the world seems to shift sharply to the right, and his sense of balance really doesn’t like suddenly being on a completely new heading. He rolls and comes up quickly, but Aranya is already running.

Rhonda

The aspiring goblin mage tries not to show her nervousness as Rocky turns his attention squarely on her. Freddie had been apprehensive of her wanting to deal with the undead scion mostly on her own, but she needs this. After seeing the hint from the freezebang vial, and working with Thing, she can almost feel what Rocky is doing. She knows he started with fire and fate affinities, and expanded to get ice and looks like kinetic.

She doesn’t know how, but she can feel something It’s like a whisper on the wind, or movement out of the corner of her eye, things that vanish once she focuses on them. She needs more, needs to observe more! She grits her teeth and passes the runebook to Lucas as she holds her wand tight. “Windblast, page 30 or so. Bookmark and help stabilize me,” she orders as she walks forward, Fiona moving to her side to help.

Rocky watches for a moment before resuming his fire and ice style, willing to meet Rhonda on her terms. A straight sends a wall of ice towards her and empowers the fire fist. Another straight sends a multitude of small balls of fire to rain upon her and the spiders.

The ice wall cuts off some of her maneuvering, but it also gives her a way to avoid the firestorm. Lucas dutifully helps stabilize her magic as she wrenches control of part of the ice wall from Rocky, reshaping it upward to protect her from the fire, and giving her a moment to think.

“It’s just like the grenade… somehow making ice and empowering a separate spell. But that makes no sense!” Fiona motions to move, and Rhonda runs without a second thought, escaping the arced ice sheet just before Rocky’s fist shatters the fortification.

“Windblast!” She orders Lucas as she launches her own spell: “Black Ice!” Rocky raises his fists in the classic boxing block as a sheet of ice forms under his feet and extends behind him. Lucas invokes the rune for windblast, and though Rocky clearly isn’t harmed by the attack, the combined efforts send him sliding along the ice. He doesn’t see much way to stop himself until the end, and so launches a smaller fist of ice at the goblin.

Fiona, however, isn’t just about throwing webs. She holds up a stronger web between her forelegs like a shield and catches the ice, and Rhonda sags slightly with relief for a moment, before trying to get back on her mental track.

How can ice empower other spells? That’s the biggest question, and she has no idea how to answer it. It’s clear it can empower other magic, but the secret eludes her. She doesn’t get much chance to think, though, as Rocky reaches the end of the ice patch. Instead of getting off it, though, he seems to get an idea. He kinetically punches behind himself, sending him shooting back down the ice towards her this time. What’s more, he starts creating more ice on the floor.. right towards Rhonda! All the while, the conflagration on his other fist grows further and further in intensity.

How can he create heat and cold so effortlessly?!

Rhonda’s eyes widen as it suddenly clicks. In magic, they’re two different affinities. In normal life… they’re temperatures. A word, a concept seems to whisper into her ear: Thermodynamics. Her magic doesn’t add ice, it removes fire! “Lucas, Stabilize!” she shouts as she digs deeper into her magic than ever before. It’s amazing what kind of motivation a charging elemental boxer can provide.

There, his control! Just like with over the ice, she can feel him moving the fire around, draining it from the floor to make ice, and imbuing it into his fist. She needs to fight that. At first, it seems impossible, like lifting a boulder the size of Freddie. But she can feel it… she’s doing it! Lucas helps stabilize her gains, letting her accelerate her efforts to redirect Rocky’s control.

She and Rocky are both surprised when his control suddenly shatters. The flame around his hand vanishes, as does the ice he’s sliding on, and he doesn’t even have the time to put his guard back up before he’s forced forward by simple momentum to slam face-first into the floor.

Freddie

Freddie doesn’t like the idea of leaving Rhonda to tackle Rocky on her own, but he knows why she has to. He can feel the same need to be the one to face Aranya. There’s something fundamental he can learn, he knows it.

Just like he knows he needed to leave Fiona to help protect Rhonda. With her help, his friend will never lack for a shield. He trusts in his friend to overcome the odds and defeat Rocky, somehow, just as she trusts him to tag Aranya and complete the challenge for them both.

He focuses his attention on the fleeing kobold, sending a silent prayer to grant him speed. Even with the potion helping him, Aranya is still very fast. He smiles as a gentle warmth seems to wash over his legs, and the distance starts to close.

“Jello’s Grip!” she shouts, and reality seems to thicken somehow around Freddie, slowing his movements significantly. He struggles to get through it as he tries to apply some of the lessons of the day to capturing Aranya. Why capture her? To get his class, duh. Why can’t he capture her? She has Thedeim.

That doesn’t feel quite right, but he’s out of the… whatever it was, and the chase resumes. He’s gaining. With the Shield’s blessing, he’s faster now! Just a little…

“Thing’s Grasp!” Ethereal orange hands suddenly grip Freddie and hold him fast, and he has to fight his anger and frustration. It’s not just that she has Thedeim’s help, it’s like she has all his scions, too! How can he fight that?!

He struggles against the hands, though he stops for a moment as he can almost hear Larx in his head. How can he fight that? He refuses to believe that any dungeon less than a year old, even one as special as Thedeim seems to be, can be mightier than the Crystal Shield. Thedeim has allies, then so does Aranya, that makes sense.

But so does he. He first wanted to join the Shield because of the simple fact he wouldn’t be alone. But the Shield has allies, then so too should Freddie! The hands finally fail and fade, and Freddie stands unopposed for a moment. A word comes to Freddie, foreign and strange, but perfect for him. A concept of togetherness and support in more than just battle.

His shield glows a soft blue, and several more ethereal versions materialize. “Phalanx Charge!” The shields work as one, moving and hemming Aranya in as Freddie rushes forward and grabs her arm.